George II, following the 1073 devastation of Kartli (central Georgia) by the Seljuqs, had in the following year successfully repelled an invasion commanded a Turkish general left by the sultan in charge of the Caucasus.

The king had also secured the formal return of Upper Tao/Tayk (Theme of Iberia), a frontier region which had been a bone of contention between Georgia and the Empire early in the eleventh century, by the imperial governor, Gregory Pakourianos, who had begun to evacuate the region shortly after the 1071 disaster inflicted by the Seljuqs on the Byzantine army at Manzikert.

On this occasion, George had been bestowed with the imperial title of Caesaros, granted the fortress of Kars and put in charge of the Imperial Eastern limits.

This does not help to stem the Seljuq advance, however.